As with all things ‘Government’, nothing stays certain for long - there have previously been a variety of schemes aimed at encouring small to medium-sized businesses onto the Internet, to establish an eCommerce prescence in particular. In the past a company could apply for a grant for up to 50% of the website development cost of an eCommerce website, up to a maximum of £2,000. Unfortunately the provision of these grants is nowhere near as widespread, however don’t lose all hope straight away, there are still some opportunities to be had…

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Digg is one of the ‘next-generation’ websites that allows a lot more interaction between its users. On a simplistic level, Digg allows you to submit ‘news stories’ which can in fact be anything you think might be useful to other people. Once a story has been submitted to a category it will appear in that category’s “Upcoming” section - which is a quickly revolving display of the most recent news stories. In the brief hour (if you’re lucky) or so that your story will be listed in the ‘upcoming’ section before being superceded by more recent articles, if your title is catchy enough then users will visit your post and if they like it then hopefully they’ll give you a “Digg”, and you know you really shouldn’t have bothered if you get a few “Bury It” ratings. Digg can prove a useful tool for websites looking to gain more exposure and catch more regular readers in the process…

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When getting the “AdSense for Content” code to integrate onto your website, Google presents you with about a dozen choices of size and shape. In order to maximise your click through rate (CTR) and hence eCPM you need to make sure that your choosing that ad format that will bring in the most revenue.

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The choice of business name for your new company is crucial for a variety of reasons. First and foremost they convey your brand image and represent what it is your business stands for. Consequently any name you choose should convey the feel that you’re trying to achieve, and the industry you are in. That doesn’t mean to say that it has to be stereotyped according to what all the other firms in your industry have chosen, however if you can find a catchy edge along a certain theme then this will help with customer brand recognition. Some business names such as Amazon actually bear no relation to the type of industry they’re in, so don’t feel pressured into your name having to ‘conform to the norm’. Once you’ve drafted up a shortlist of say ten or twenty names, the next step is to check that they’re actually available to register…

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From the 1st January 2007, it has become a legal requirement for all registered companies to display certain details both on their website, and in the footers of emails. The change comes in the form of the rather longwinded “First Company Law Amendment Directive”. Prior to this amendment, companies already had to publish company details on letters and other documents, however now the requirements have been extended to websites and emails. Carry on reading to find out what your business should be doing to ensure it is meeting these laws that are now in force…

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You’ve probably heard of Skype before, and how it allows employees to communicate with each other for free, even if they are based throughout the world! With SkypeOut you can also call regular landline and mobile phones for low rates, direct from your PC wherever you have broadband internet connection. The success of Skype (and VOIP in general) is increasing every year, with approximately 25% of small businesses utilising VOIP for their telephony. As Skype becomes part of your mainstream phone package, you can also integrate it with call recording software for a variety of purposes. This article reviews the usefulness of Pamela Call Recording software and the benefits it can offer business users.

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‘Forgetfulness’ is a part of human nature, some suffer more and others less. Often forgetfulness is related to trivial issues that don’t really have much of an impact. In business, however, forgetfulness can of course cost money - and worst of all, the mistakes add up. If you make a costly forgetful mistake once a week, then you’re potentially making 52 mistakes a year. I won’t quantify an exact amount that this could cost you per year, but I’m sure you’ll agree the less forgetful mistakes you make the better! I’ve been playing around with various techniques to try and decrease my level of forgetfulness, read on for the results..

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When launching your business there are a variety of legal entities that your business can take, and it is important to understand which one is right for you. The Business Link website contains a thorough outline of UK business structures, and provides useful tool to determine what legal business status is right for you. In the case of US businesses, a good description can be found here.

You may have been trading as ’sole proprietor’ or unincorporated partnership status for a while, but should things go belly up then you as the business owner would be personally liable for all business debts. I know this applies to the UK and am pretty sure that it’s the same over in the States, someone feel free to leave a comment and correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, but when your finances, savings and possibly home are at stake, you need to ensure that these are as ’safe as houses’ (excuse the pun) - you don’t want money coming out of your own pocket if things didn’t work out.

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Ever had a project which you’re not looking forward to starting? Some projects from the outside can appear daunting and unmanagable due to their size, especially when you haven’t got a specific plan of action. Here’s a useful tip to avoid that ’start it tomorrow’ syndrome…

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There’s two main factors to finding your website in the search engines, the first is to verify that it is actually included in the search engine index, and the second is that even if it is included in the index, it may not necessarily rank very highly on its own. The purpose of this post is to help you establish if the reason you can’t find your website in the search listings is an indexing, or a ranking issue…

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